Prophetic words against the evil of racism

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Here are some quotes on racism, from Pope Francis and from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. They are not listed in any particular order.

“Strengthening our relationship of belonging to the Lord Jesus, the Spirit enables us to enter into a new experience of fraternity. By means of our universal brother — Jesus — we can relate to one another in a new way; no longer as orphans, but rather as children of the same good and merciful Father. And this changes everything! We can see each other as brothers and sisters whose differences can only increase our joy and wonder at sharing in this unique fatherhood and brotherhood.” May 15, 2016. (Homily, Pentecost)

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“The problem of intolerance must be confronted in all its forms: Wherever any minority is persecuted and marginalized because of its religious convictions or ethnic identity, the well-being of society as a whole is endangered, and each one of us must feel affected.” Oct. 24, 2013. (Audience with a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center)

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“We must overcome all forms of racism, of intolerance and of the instrumentalization of the human person.” July 18, 2017. (Tweet from @Pontifex)

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“We are called to live not as one without others, above or against others, but with and for others.” May 22, 2017. (Tweet from @Pontifex)

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“In these times of paralysis, disorientation and destructive formulas, the active participation of peoples who seek the common good can triumph, with God’s help, over the false prophets who exploit fear and despair, who peddle magic formulas of hatred and callousness, or a selfish prosperity and an illusory security.” Nov. 5, 2016. (Speech to third World Meeting of Popular Movements, Vatican City)

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“When we hear of people exulting in the death of a young person who had perhaps lost his way, when we see that war is preferred to peace, when we see the spread of xenophobia, when we realize that intolerant ideas are gaining ground, behind that burgeoning cruelty is the cold breath of fear. I ask you to pray for all those who are fearful. Let us pray that God will give them strength, and that in this Year of Mercy we can soften our hearts. Mercy is not easy; it is no easy thing. … It takes courage.” Nov. 5, 2016 (Speech to third World Meeting of Popular Movements, Vatican City)

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“Mr. President, together with their fellow citizens, American Catholics are committed to building a society which is truly tolerant and inclusive, to safeguarding the rights of individuals and communities, and to rejecting every form of unjust discrimination.” Sept. 23, 2015 (Speech at the White House, Washington)

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“Our mission as bishops is first and foremost to solidify unity, a unity whose content is defined by the Word of God and the one Bread of Heaven. With these two realities, each of the churches entrusted to us remains Catholic, because open to, and in communion with, all the particular churches and with the church of Rome which ‘presides in charity.’ It is imperative, therefore, to watch over that unity, to safeguard it, to promote it and to bear witness to it as a sign and instrument which, beyond every barrier, unites nations, races, classes and generations.” Sept. 23, 2015 (Speech to U.S. bishops, Washington)

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“Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us. The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.” Sept. 24, 2015. (Speech to Joint Meeting of Congress, Washington)

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“A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to ‘dream’ of full rights for all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.” Sept. 24, 2015. (Speech to Joint Meeting of Congress, Washington)

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“I must not categorize others in order to decide who is my neighbor and who is not. It is up to me whether to be a neighbor or not — the decision is mine — it is up to me whether or not to be a neighbor to those whom I encounter who need help, even if they are strangers or perhaps hostile.” July 10, 2016. (Angelus address, Vatican City)

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“The time has come to put an end to age-old prejudices, preconceptions and mutual mistrust that are often at the base of discrimination, racism and xenophobia.” Oct. 26, 2015 (Speech to a pilgrimage of Roma and Sinti people)

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“In just a few days we will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the deportation of the Jews of Rome. We will remember and pray for the many innocent victims of inhuman cruelty and for their families. It will also be an occasion to heighten our attention and be watchful so that forms of intolerance and anti-Semitism do not recur under any pretext, here in Rome and in the rest of the world. I have said it on other occasions and I would like to repeat it now: It is a contradiction for a Christian to be anti-Semitic. His roots are a bit Jewish. A Christian cannot be an anti-Semite! May anti-Semitism be banished from the heart and life of every man and every woman!” Oct. 11, 2013 (Speech to a delegation from the Jewish Community of Rome, Vatican City)

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“Scapegoats are not only sought to pay, with their freedom and with their life, for all social ills such as was typical in primitive societies, but over and beyond this, there is at times a tendency to deliberately fabricate enemies: stereotyped figures who represent all the characteristics that society perceives or interprets as threatening. The mechanisms that form these images are the same that allowed the spread of racist ideas in their time.” Oct. 23, 2014. (Speech to the International Association of Penal Law)

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“It is of little or no use to raise our voices and run about to find weapons for our protection. What is needed today are peacemakers, not makers of arms; what is needed are peacemakers, and not fomenters of conflict; firefighters and not arsonists; preachers of reconciliation and not instigators of destruction.” April 28, 2017. (Speech to an Interfaith Peace Conference, Cairo)

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“It is disconcerting to note that, as the concrete realities of people’s lives are increasingly ignored in favor of obscure machinations, demagogic forms of populism are on the rise. These certainly do not help to consolidate peace and stability: No incitement to violence will guarantee peace, and every unilateral action that does not promote constructive and shared processes is, in reality, a gift to the proponents of radicalism and violence.” April 28, 2017. (Speech to an Interfaith Peace Conference, Cairo)

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“We’re all brothers and sisters. Believers, nonbelievers or whether belonging to this or that religious confession, Jews, Muslims … we’re all brothers and sisters!” March 31, 2014. (Interview with Belgian young people)

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“Two parallel acts: on the one hand, Jesus washes the feet, while Judas sells Jesus for money; and on the other hand, you, we, everyone together, different religions, different cultures, but children of the same Father, brothers and sisters, while those unfortunate ones buy weapons to destroy brotherhood. Today, at this moment, as I perform the same act as Jesus by washing the feet of you 12, we are all engaged in the act of brotherhood, and we are all saying: ‘We are diverse, we are different, we have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and sisters and we want to live in peace.’ This is the act that I carry out with you. Each of us has a history on our shoulders, each of you has a history on your shoulders: so many crosses, so much pain, but also an open heart that wants brotherhood. Each one, in your own religious language, pray the Lord that this brotherhood infect the world, that there be no 30 pieces of silver to kill a brother, that there always be brotherhood and goodness. Let it be.” March 24, 2016. (Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Castelnuovo di Porto, Italy)

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“May this tireless worker of mercy help us increasingly to understand that our only criterion for action is gratuitous love, free from every ideology and all obligations, offered freely to everyone without distinction of language, culture, race or religion.” Sept. 4, 2016. (Homily, Vatican City, canonization of St. Teresa of Kolkata)

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“This is no time for denouncing anyone or fighting. We do not want to tear down, we do not want to give insult. We have no desire to conquer hatred with more hatred, violence with more violence, terror with more terror. We are here today because the Lord has called us together. Our response to a world at war has a name: Its name is fraternity, its name is brotherhood, its name is communion, its name is family.” July 30, 2016 (World Youth Day, Krakow, Vigil)

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“The Lord wants to work one of the greatest miracles we can experience; he wants to turn your hands, my hands, our hands, into signs of reconciliation, of communion, of creation. He wants your hands to continue building the world of today. And he wants to build that world with you.” July 30, 2016. (World Youth Day, Krakow, Vigil)

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“Life nowadays tells us that it is much easier to concentrate on what divides us, what keeps us apart. People try to make us believe that being closed in on ourselves is the best way to keep safe from harm. Today, we adults need you to teach us, as you are doing today, how to live in diversity, in dialogue, to experience multiculturalism, not as a threat but an opportunity. You are an opportunity for the future.” July 30, 2016. (World Youth Day, Krakow, Vigil)

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“Today Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, is calling you, you and you to leave your mark on history. He, who is life, is asking each of you to leave a mark that brings life to your own history and that of many others. He, who is truth, is asking you to abandon the paths of rejection, division and emptiness.” July 30, 2016. (World Youth Day, Krakow, Vigil)

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“This aspect of mercy, inclusion, is manifested in opening one’s arms wide to welcome, without excluding; without labeling others according to their social status, language, race, culture or religion: there is, before us, only a person to be loved as God loves them. The person whom I find at my work, in my neighborhood, is a person to love, as God loves.” Nov. 12, 2016. (Jubilee audience, Vatican City)

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“In particular, any theory or form whatsoever of racism and racial discrimination is morally unacceptable.” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 433)

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“‘God shows no partiality’ (Acts 10:34), since all people have the same dignity as creatures made in his image and likeness. The Incarnation of the Son of God shows the equality of all people with regard to dignity: ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal 3:28). (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 144)

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Since something of the glory of God shines on the face of every person, the dignity of every person before God is the basis of the dignity of man before other men. Moreover, this is the ultimate foundation of the radical equality and brotherhood among all people, regardless of their race, nation, sex, origin, culture, or class.” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 144)

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“Together with equality in the recognition of the dignity of each person and of every people there must also be an awareness that it will be possible to safeguard and promote human dignity only if this is done as a community, by the whole of humanity. Only through the mutual action of individuals and peoples sincerely concerned for the good of all men and women can a genuine universal brotherhood be attained; otherwise, the persistence of conditions of serious disparity and inequality will make us all poorer.” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 145)